^28:1Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem.¹ He did not do what pleased the Lord, in contrast to his ancestor David.²^28:2He followed in the footsteps of³ the kings of Israel; he also made images of the Baals. ^28:3He offered sacrifices in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and passed his sons through the fire,⁴ a horrible sin practiced by the nations⁵ whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. ^28:4He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

^28:5The Lord his God handed him over to the king of Syria. The Syrians⁶ defeated him and deported many captives to Damascus.⁷ He was also handed over to the king of Israel, who thoroughly defeated him.⁸^28:6In one day King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel killed 120,000 warriors in Judah, because they had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors.⁹^28:7Zikri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed the king’s son Maaseiah, Azrikam, the supervisor of the palace, and Elkanah, the king’s second-in-command. ^28:8The Israelites seized from their brothers 200,000 wives, sons, and daughters. They also carried off a huge amount of plunder and took it¹⁰ back to Samaria.¹¹

^28:9Oded, a prophet of the Lord, was there. He went to meet the army as they arrived in Samaria and said to them: “Look, because the Lord God of your ancestors was angry with Judah he handed them over to you. You have killed them so mercilessly that God has taken notice.¹²^28:10And now you are planning¹³ to enslave¹⁴ the people¹⁵ of Judah and Jerusalem. Yet are you not also guilty before the Lord your God? ^28:11Now listen to me! Send back those you have seized from your brothers, for the Lord is very angry at you!”¹⁶^28:12So some of¹⁷ the Ephraimite family leaders, Azariah son of Jehochanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jechizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai confronted¹⁸ those returning from the battle. ^28:13They said to them, “Don’t bring those captives here! Are you planning on making us even more sinful and guilty before the Lord?¹⁹ Our guilt is already great and the Lord is very angry at Israel.”²⁰^28:14So the soldiers released the captives and the plunder before the officials and the entire assembly. ^28:15Men were assigned to take the prisoners and find clothes among the plunder for those who were naked.²¹ So they clothed them, supplied them with sandals, gave them food and drink, and provided them with oil to rub on their skin.²² They put the ones who couldn’t walk on donkeys.²³ They brought them back to their brothers at Jericho,²⁴ the city of the date palm trees, and then returned to Samaria.

^28:16At that time King Ahaz asked the king²⁵ of Assyria for help. ^28:17The Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried off captives. ^28:18The Philistines had raided the cities of Judah in the lowlands²⁶ and the Negev. They captured and settled in Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco and its surrounding villages, Timnah and its surrounding villages, and Gimzo and its surrounding villages. ^28:19The Lord humiliated²⁷ Judah because of King Ahaz of Israel,²⁸ for he encouraged Judah to sin and was very²⁹ unfaithful to the Lord. ^28:20King Tiglath-pileser³⁰ of Assyria came, but he gave him more trouble than support.³¹^28:21Ahaz gathered riches³² from the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and the officials and gave them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help.

^28:22During his time of trouble King Ahaz was even more unfaithful to the Lord. ^28:23He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus whom he thought had defeated him.³³ He reasoned,³⁴ “Since the gods of the kings of Damascus helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” But they caused him and all Israel to stumble. ^28:24Ahaz gathered the items in God’s temple and removed them. He shut the doors of the Lord’s temple and erected altars on every street corner in Jerusalem. ^28:25In every city throughout Judah he set up high places to offer sacrifices to other gods. He angered the Lord God of his ancestors.

^28:26The rest of the events of Ahaz’s reign, including his accomplishments from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel.³⁵^28:27Ahaz passed away³⁶ and was buried in the City of David;³⁷ they did not bring him to the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah replaced him as king.

Hezekiah Consecrates the Temple

^29:1Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem.¹ His mother was Abijah,² the daughter of Zechariah. ^29:2He did what the Lord approved, just as his ancestor David had done.³

^29:3In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the Lord’s temple and repaired them. ^29:4He brought in the priests and Levites and assembled them in the square on the east side. ^29:5He said to them: “Listen to me, you Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, so you can consecrate the temple of the Lord God of your ancestors!⁴ Remove from the sanctuary what is ceremonially unclean! ^29:6For our fathers were unfaithful; they did what is evil in the sight of⁵ the Lord our God and abandoned him! They turned⁶ away from the Lord’s dwelling place and rejected him.⁷^29:7They closed the doors of the temple porch and put out the lamps; they did not offer incense or burnt sacrifices in the sanctuary of the God of Israel. ^29:8The Lord was angry at Judah and Jerusalem and made them an appalling object of horror at which people hiss out their scorn,⁸ as you can see with your own eyes. ^29:9Look, our fathers died violently⁹ and our sons, daughters, and wives were carried off¹⁰ because of this. ^29:10Now I intend¹¹ to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, so that he may relent from his raging anger.¹²^29:11My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to serve in his presence and offer sacrifices.”¹³

^29:12The following Levites prepared to carry out the king’s orders:¹⁴

From the Kohathites: Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah;

from the Merarites: Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel;

from the Gershonites: Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah;

^29:13from the descendants of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel;

from the descendants of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah;

^29:14from the descendants of Heman: Jehiel and Shimei;

from the descendants of Jeduthun: Shemaiah and Uzziel.

^29:15They assembled their brothers and consecrated themselves. Then they went in to purify the Lord’s temple, just as the king had ordered, in accordance with the word¹⁵ of the Lord. ^29:16The priests then entered the Lord’s temple to purify it; they brought out to the courtyard of the Lord’s temple every ceremonially unclean thing they discovered inside.¹⁶ The Levites took them out to the Kidron Valley. ^29:17On the first day of the first month they began consecrating; by the eighth day of the month they reached the porch of the Lord’s temple.¹⁷ For eight more days they consecrated the Lord’s temple. On the sixteenth day of the first month they were finished. ^29:18They went to King Hezekiah and said: “We have purified the entire temple of the Lord, including the altar of burnt sacrifice and all its equipment, and the table for the Bread of the Presence and all its equipment. ^29:19We have prepared and consecrated all the items that King Ahaz removed during his reign when he acted unfaithfully. They are in front of the altar of the Lord.”

^29:20Early the next morning King Hezekiah assembled the city officials and went up to the Lord’s temple. ^29:21They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah.¹⁸ The king¹⁹ told the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer burnt sacrifices on the altar of the Lord. ^29:22They slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it on the altar. Then they slaughtered the rams and splashed the blood on the altar; next they slaughtered the lambs and splashed the blood on the altar. ^29:23Finally they brought the goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they placed their hands on them. ^29:24Then the priests slaughtered them. They offered their blood as a sin offering on the altar to make atonement for all Israel, because the king had decreed²⁰ that the burnt sacrifice and sin offering were for all Israel.

^29:25King Hezekiah²¹ stationed the Levites in the Lord’s temple with cymbals and stringed instruments, just as David, Gad the king’s prophet,²² and Nathan the prophet had ordered. (The Lord had actually given these orders through his prophets.) ^29:26The Levites had²³ David’s musical instruments and the priests had trumpets. ^29:27Hezekiah ordered the burnt sacrifice to be offered on the altar. As they began to offer the sacrifice, they also began to sing to the Lord, accompanied by the trumpets and the musical instruments of King David of Israel. ^29:28The entire assembly worshiped, as the singers sang and the trumpeters played. They continued until the burnt sacrifice was completed.

^29:29When the sacrifices were completed, the king and all who were with him bowed down and worshiped. ^29:30King Hezekiah and the officials told the Levites to praise the Lord, using the psalms²⁴ of David and Asaph the prophet.²⁵ So they joyfully offered praise and bowed down and worshiped. ^29:31Hezekiah said, “Now you have consecrated yourselves²⁶ to the Lord. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings²⁷ to the Lord’s temple.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and whoever desired to do so²⁸ brought burnt sacrifices.

^29:32The assembly brought a total of 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs as burnt sacrifices to the Lord,²⁹^29:33and 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep³⁰ were consecrated. ^29:34But there were not enough priests to skin all the animals,³¹ so their brothers, the Levites, helped them until the work was finished and the priests could…

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Footnotes

1 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
2 Heb “and he did not do what was proper in the eyes of the Lord, like David his father.”
3 Heb “he walked in the ways of.”
4 This may refer to child sacrifice, though some interpret it as a less drastic cultic practice ( “burnt his sons in the fire”; “burned his sons in the fire”; “sacrificed his sons in the fire”; “made his sons pass through fire”). For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), .
5 Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”
6 Heb “they”; the referent (the Syrians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 Heb “and took captive from him a great captivity and brought [them] to Damascus.”
8 Heb “who struck him down with a great striking.”
9 Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 9, 25).
10 Heb “the loot.” The pronoun (“it”) has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
11 For location see ; ; ; ; .
12 Heb “and you killed them with anger [that] reaches as far as heaven.”
13 Heb “saying.”
14 Heb “to enslave as male servants and female servants.”
15 Heb “sons.”
16 Heb “for the rage of the anger of the Lord is upon you.”
17 Heb “men from.”
18 Heb “arose against.”
19 Heb “for to the guilt of the Lord upon us you are saying to add to our sins and our guilty deeds.”
20 Heb “for great is [the] guilt to us and rage of anger is upon Israel.”
21 Heb “and the men who were designated by names arose and took the captives and all their naked ones they clothed from the loot.”
22 Heb “and poured oil on them.”
23 Heb “and they led them on donkeys, with respect to everyone stumbling.”
24 For location see ; ; ; ; ; .
25 Most Hebrew read the plural, “kings,” but one Hebrew , the and read the singular “king.” Note the singular in v. 20.
26 Heb “Shephelah.”
27 Or “subdued.”
28 That is, “of Judah.” Frequently in 2 Chronicles “Israel” is substituted for “Judah.”
29 The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form to emphasize the degree of Ahaz’s unfaithfulness.
30 Heb “Tilgath-pilneser,” a variant spelling of Tiglath-pileser.
31 Heb “and he caused him distress and did not strengthen him.”
32 Heb “divided up,” but some read חִלֵּץ (khillets, “despoiled”).
33 Heb “the gods of Damascus, the ones who had defeated him.” The words “he thought” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The perspective is that of Ahaz, not the narrator! Another option is that “the kings” has been accidentally omitted after “gods of.” See v. 23b.
34 Heb “said.”
35 Heb “As for the rest of his events, and all his ways, the former and the latter, look, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel.”
36 Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
37 The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
1 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
2 The parallel passage in 2 Kgs 18:2 has “Abi.”
3 Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord, according to all which David his father had done.”
4 Heb “fathers.”
5 Heb “in the eyes of.”
6 Heb “turned their faces.”
7 Heb “and turned the back.”
8 Heb “and he made them [an object] of dread and devastation and hissing.”
9 Heb “fell by the sword.”
10 Heb “are in captivity.”
11 Heb “now it is with my heart.”
12 Heb “so that the rage of his anger might turn from us.” The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding statement of intention.
13 Heb “to stand before him to serve him and to be his servants and sacrificers.”
14 Heb “and the Levites arose.”
15 Heb “words” (plural).
16 Heb “in the temple of the Lord.”
17 Heb “porch of the Lord.”
18 Perhaps these terms refer metonymically to the royal court, the priests and Levites, and the people, respectively.
19 Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 Heb “said.”
21 Heb “he”; the referent (King Hezekiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22 Or “seer.”
23 Heb “stood with” (i.e., stood holding).
24 Heb “with the words.”
25 Or “seer.”
26 Heb “filled your hand.”
27 Or “tokens of thanks.”
28 Heb “and all who were willing of heart.”
29 Heb “and the number of burnt sacrifices which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, two hundred lambs; for a burnt sacrifice to the Lord were all these.”
30 The Hebrew term צֹאן (ts’on) denotes smaller livestock in general; depending on context it can refer to sheep only or goats only, but there is nothing in the immediate context here to specify one or the other.
31 Heb “the burnt sacrifices.”